In Specie

Latin lesson: “in specie” means “in its actual form.”

In specie refers to the distribution of an asset (the actual asset), rather than selling the asset and distributing the money. For instance, if a company wants to sweeten the deal for its investors, but not via sweet, cold, hard cash, it can give them shares (or even fractions of shares).

Sometimes it’s just easier, or preferable for other reasons, to pay someone via the asset itself rather than in cash. In addition to stocks and assets, property can also be given to a party in specie.